Struggling to Move On
by hmweasley
Summary: Percy has been doing his best to move on since his divorce, but when Christmas rolls around, it's harder than ever to accept that his life has entirely changed. He goes to Oliver for support.


Percy stared at the stacks of Christmas cards and envelopes in front of him. Though he had planned to spend his afternoon writing them out and sending them off, he was having trouble actually doing so.

During their more than a decade of marriage, he and Audrey had sent Christmas cards as a family, both of them signing their names and, later, those of their children before sealing them in their envelopes. It was strange to be doing it alone. He had been adjusting to doing a lot of things alone with the girls away at Hogwarts as well, but each new task was just as difficult as the last.

He'd briefly considered not sending Christmas cards at all, but that would imply he hadn't been doing well since the divorce, an impression that he'd been doing everything in his power to avoid. With the pitying looks of his friends and family in mind, he forced himself to scribble joyful message after joyful message onto the cards even as he frowned down at them.

Once they were done, he sighed and leaned back, staring at the one blank card he had left. At the time he'd purchased them, he'd figure having at least one extra was a good idea. Now that he only had that one left, he knew exactly who he itched to send it to.

He was sure sending your ex-wife a Christmas card was considered strange, but he had written out cards to work colleagues he secretly despised. Would it be wrong of him to send one to the woman he'd been married to?

He could hear the words of his friends echoing in his mind and telling him not to do it, and Percy wanted to heed their warnings. Throughout the divorce and its aftermath, he'd struggled to appear upbeat, but only he knew how often he still imagined sleeping next to Audrey, waking up beside her, cooking breakfast together while they discussed the morning's news. He dreamed of all of it.

It hadn't been him who had suggested divorce after all. It was merely something he'd gotten caught up in without knowing how he'd gotten there. He knew he hadn't quite accepted that it was an unchangeable reality.

Sending her a card was a bad idea. He could write the same detached platitudes that he'd filled the other cards with, but it was painful to think of writing such a stock message to his ex-wife when he still thought about holding her close.

The card laid there, mocking him. Part of him wanted to try because, perhaps, managing such a detached message would make her believe he really was over her. That he'd moved on just as easily as she had. The looks she gave him when she saw him had made it more than clear that she saw through his facade.

He pushed away from the table, giving in to the desperate need to flee. Heading for the fireplace, he took a handful of Floo powder and shouted his destination before he'd fully thought through his actions.

* * *

Percy stumbled out of the fireplace, brushing the ashes off his robes. He didn't look up as Oliver appeared in the doorway that led to the hallway of his flat.

"Percy!?" Oliver exclaimed. "Way to give a man some warning. Is there an emergency or something?"

Percy frowned before throwing himself onto Oliver's couch dramatically. For most of his life, he would have avoided such uncouth gestures, but he'd long since given up any sense of propriety in front of Oliver. The other man was the only one who'd gotten past Percy's walls since the divorce.

"I want to send Audrey a Christmas card. Tell me it's a bad idea," he mumbled, staring into the fireplace he'd come from.

There was no fire burning in the grate, and Oliver's flat was on the chillier side. Percy didn't understand that. Oliver had always been just fine with the cold, but one of the great things about winter was getting to enjoy a nice fire. Having a fireplace and not using it to its full potential felt like a waste. And was something they had argued over constantly in their dormitory while at Hogwarts.

Oliver pulled him from his thoughts with a simple, "You definitely should not send your ex-wife a Christmas card."

Percy turned to look at him, bottom lip out in a pout.

"No," Oliver said, looking as pained as Percy felt as he moved to sit beside him on the couch. "Some people manage to be friends with their exes. Good for them. You're not one of those people, Perce. At least not right now. You're not over her, and a Christmas card is only going to make it worse."

It was silent for a moment as Percy pouted over Oliver telling him what he had come to hear. Eventually, Oliver sighed and reached out to shake Percy slightly as if jarring him from his thoughts. His hand lingered for a moment before he pulled away with a sigh.

"You need a break," he declared, clapping his hands together. "Lucky for you, I have a break from Puddlemere over the holidays, and I've already been planning a weeklong trip to Hawaii to recharge. Come with me. It'll be good for you."

"But the girls—"

"Are spending most of the holidays with Audrey anyway," Oliver said gently. "I know you don't get to see them much while they're at school, but if you stay, you'll only see them for a few days as it is. Why not see them and then, once they go to Audrey's, you can join me instead of sitting home alone for days on end. I'm sure the rest of your family would understand."

They would. In fact, his mum would be thrilled about any sign that he was moving on. She always looked like she was trying not to frown when he saw her. She'd be downright cheerful if he told her of Oliver's plan, and he would appreciate not being on the receiving end of her sympathy during Christmas dinner.

"I'll think about it," he said, not quite able to shake the guilt of being away from his daughters for Christmas, even if they'd be with their mother. "Maybe."

He didn't pay any attention to the pained yet hopeful look on Oliver's face as he left.

* * *

 **Prompts:**

 **Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments**

Assignment 10 - Muggle Music: task 1 - write about someone pining

Seasonal Challenge - Days of the Year: Christmas Card Day - write about someone writing out their Christmas cards

Seasonal Challenge - Audrey's Dessert Challenge: M&Ms - (theme) pining

Word count: 1,065


End file.
